


Joined

by myth_taken



Series: Denial 101 [9]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-19 04:33:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8190232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myth_taken/pseuds/myth_taken
Summary: Tara's been waiting for the right moment to propose for weeks, but Willow beats her to it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> so anything remotely inaccurate about this and the plausibility officially doesn't matter because i'm lazy and also it's fiction anyway. this fic goes before the wedding fic i wrote (surprise, surprise). if you don't know what the pantheon is, look up "pantheon rome;" it's a really cool old building that's actually been maintained over the years because the catholics used it after the romans did. i'm assuming they live in rome because i'm 80% sure that's how canon goes and also i love rome. also there's a really big gap between this and my other denial 101 stuff... basically fred leaves because she wants to do her own stuff, and then the series more or less continues as usual until now.

“Where are you going?” Willow reached out for her girlfriend from the warmth of her covers.

“Breakfast,” Tara answered. “Don’t you want some pastries?”

“I want you more,” Willow complained.

“You have me,” Tara said, “and soon you’ll have both me and pastries.”

Willow pouted, but protested no more as Tara slipped out of the apartment and onto the streets of Rome.

Pastries were certainly on the agenda, but first, Tara had secret business. She jumped on her scooter and drove to the magic shop the two of them frequented. She pushed the door open to the ringing of chimes, then marched up to the counter, where a familiar clerk, Nicoletta, was working.

“I need a ring,” Tara said in Italian, trying her hardest to get the words right. 

Nicoletta smiled and answered in English. “I’ve been wondering when you and that girl would get married. What kind of ring?”

“I want to charge the stone with my love. What stones are good for that?” 

Nicoletta thought for a moment. “Maybe she will like amber? It means marital love and also regular love.”

Tara smiled in relief. “Okay. I want an amber ring. Do I need anything to charge it?”

“Just your power, I think.” Nicoletta rifled through a drawer and pulled out the ring. “I’m going to give you a cute gay discount,” she decided.

“Yeah, it’s all been a front to get a cheap ring,” Tara joked. She bought the ring, tucked it into her jacket pocket, and left, making sure to stop by a bakery on her way back so that Willow wouldn’t doubt her cover story too much.

She ran up the stairs to their apartment and flung the door open, exclaiming, “I come bearing eclairs!”

“Bless you,” Willow answered from the bedroom.

“You’re going to have to get up eventually,” Tara called back.

“Not if you bring the food to me!”

Tara sighed. “Fine.” She hung up her jacket, then brought the bag into the bedroom. “But you owe me extra cuddles.”

“That can be arranged,” Willow replied, reaching out for the bag.

A week passed, and Tara still hadn’t figured out when to bring out the ring. She wasn’t planning any sort of huge thing; she wanted it to be special, but not extravagant. She toyed with the idea of just proposing at a random moment, but she knew it had to be better than that; Willow deserved better than that. But Tara kept the ring in her pocket at all times, just in case she found a good moment.

Another week passed, and Tara was getting worried and slightly impatient. But she was nervous, and she hadn’t found the right moment yet. She needed to find the right moment.

She and Willow were sitting together and reading one night when the phone rang. Tara went to answer it. Somewhat predictably, it was Buffy.

“Hey, Tara, there’s something feeding off tourist energy at the Pantheon. We might need some magical help to solve it.”

“Right now?” Tara asked.

“Yeah, that would be nice. As soon as you can.”

“Okay. Um, we just have to gather some supplies, and then we’ll be there?”

“Okay, great. Thanks, Tara!”

“Anytime.” Tara hung up the phone and turned to call out to Willow. “Buffy needs us. She says there’s something feeding off tourist energy at the Pantheon.”

Willow stood up. “I thought they closed it for restoration.”

Tara shrugged, opening the closet where they kept their emergency gear. “Maybe that makes it a better hiding place for monsters.”

“Maybe the archaeologists are the monsters,” Willow answered. 

“Wouldn’t surprise me.” Tara pulled out their bags and handed Willow hers. “I guess Buffy’ll tell us more.”

With bags on their shoulders, they made their way down the steps of their apartment, then both onto Willow’s cherry-red scooter, with Willow steering and Tara tagging along on the back. People still in the streets receded towards walls so that they could pass through, and they arrived at the Pantheon in no time. Buffy was standing outside the foreboding fences between them and the structure.

“This thing is really badly guarded at night,” she said. “Good for us, bad for them. I think the spell is pretty basic, but you two are the witchy contingent, so you’ll have to tell.”

“So are we breaking in?” Tara asked.

“Always love some good breaking and entering,” Willow added.

Buffy nodded. “Today, Willow, you get your wish.”

It wasn’t too hard to get past the fence; all it took was a distraction spell for the people around them and a bit of a climb. They dropped down just in front of the Pantheon entrance.

“Is Buffy coming with us?” Tara asked, realizing Buffy hadn’t made the climb with them.

Willow looked up at the top of the fence. “She probably figures we can handle it. Come on.” They made their way through the columns and tiptoed into the building.

Tara had never gotten used to the beauty of the Pantheon. She had never been at night, but in the daytime, with the single shaft of sunlight almost acting as a natural clock, it was lovely. Now, at dusk, there was barely any light, and there was scaffolding in spots, but the missing sunlight was made up for by candles flickering all around, and the space directly under the hole in the ceiling was occupied by a basket. Tara couldn’t quite see what was in it, although she thought she caught a glimpse of a few flower petals.

“These demons have good taste in candles,” she noted, looking to Willow.

Willow was fidgeting. It was clear she was nervous.

“Hey, why the nerves?” Tara held both of Willow’s hands. “We can do this. It’s not going to be very hard.”

Willow shook her head. “I’m not worried about the demons.” She shook it off. “What’s in the basket?”

“Let’s go look.” Tara let go of one of Willow’s hands, but kept herself firmly attached to the other as they moved to the center. “What do demons need with flowers?” She was dimly aware of Willow letting go of her hand as she bent down to look at the basket. She pulled out the bouquet, then a few herbs, and a book about joining rituals before she heard Willow speak behind her.

“Tara, there are no demons.”

Tara stood up and turned around, confused, to see Willow on one knee in front of her. Before she had time to react with more than the beginnings of a smile, Willow was talking again.

“Tara, I love you, and I know you love me, and I thought, you know, two people who love each other usually get married sooner or later, and, well, I thought-- do you want to? Get married, I mean?” Willow pulled out a ring and held it up.

By now, there was a huge grin on Tara’s face. She reached into her pocket and extracted the ring she had bought two weeks before. “You beat me to it,” she said, and offered Willow the ring.

“So, this is firmly in the yes zone?” Willow clarified. 

Tara pulled Willow to her feet and took her hand, sliding the amber ring onto her finger. “Like I could say anything else.”

“Good.” Willow slid the ring she had gotten onto Tara’s finger. For a moment, they were each in their own world, examining their rings; Tara’s was made up of tiny interwoven strands of copper, meant to look like branches. 

And then, the next moment, they were together, pulling each other closer, holding each other, kissing, and smiling through all of it, to both each other and themselves.

Finally, they separated a little, still holding hands, still irrevocably together.

“I’m gonna marry a witch!” Willow exclaimed, bouncing.

“You’re not the only one,” Tara answered, kissing Willow again.

They lost track of how long they spent in there, just happy with each other, but at one point, they looked up and noticed that the dusk had transformed into real night.

“I wonder if Buffy’s still out there waiting,” Tara said.

“She probably wants all the details,” Willow answered. 

“We should probably go,” Tara said.

“We really should,” Willow answered.

They still didn’t move for a while, but eventually they had to stand up, blow out the stubs of wax that had been candles, and leave, now carrying the basket (which was now filled with candles, in addition to its original contents). Just as they reached the fence, they heard a voice. 

“So, do you think it’s going well in there?” 

It was Dawn, and Buffy’s voice answered. “Well, they’ve been in there for a while. Either it went well, or they’re having the world’s quietest magic fight.”

There was a squeal, and Willow and Tara looked at each other and laughed. They started climbing the fence. 

“I think I hear them,” Dawn said. When Willow and Tara appeared at the top of the fence, the first thing Tara saw was Dawn’s wide blue eyes staring up at them. “Guys, what happened?”

Willow dropped down first, then Tara.

“She said yes,” Willow told Dawn, pure excitement palpable in her voice.

Dawn squealed again.

“Not only that,” Willow said, now speaking to both Dawn and Buffy, who was sitting with her back against the fence, “but she was already planning her own proposal.”

“Willow gets a ring too,” Tara said.

Buffy stood up. “Congratulations, you two.”

Dawn was practically bouncing off the Earth. “Can I help plan the wedding?” she asked. 

“Of course,” Willow said. 

“We’re going to need help,” Tara said. “Do you think Giles can walk us both down the aisle?”

“I think we’d probably better find something else for him to do,” Willow replied. “We’re independent. We can walk alone.”

“Yeah, I like that,” Tara agreed. She looked up at the night sky. “Right now we should probably sleep, though.”

“Wow, it  _ is _ late,” Buffy said. 

“I can’t believe you waited for us,” Willow marveled.

“Yeah, well, I had to hear the good news!” Buffy shrugged. “And anyway, Dawn showed up after a while, so I wasn’t really alone.” She gave Dawn a playful glare. “But it’s past her bedtime.”

“Well, you get Dawn to bed, and we’ll… get us to bed,” Willow said.

“Good night,” Tara said.

“Good night!” Buffy and Dawn both called at the same time.

Willow and Tara jumped back on the cherry red scooter. 

Back at their apartment, Tara asked Willow, “So, how was your day?”

Willow smiled. “Rode my scooter, got the most beautiful woman in the world to marry me… not too bad, overall.”


End file.
